Micro Studio - Photographing Tiny 3D Prints

The level of detail printed by my SLA technology is such that a macro lens is essential if you actually want to see the finest of those details.  I have been using a macro lens attached to my iPhone for this with pretty good results as described by a previous post.  I may have even gone a little further than I needed to set up a mini studio!

What the iPhone solution delivers in terms of convenience though is lost in quality.  Lack of depth of field makes focus across any distance problematic and the various forms of optical distortion caused by tiny lenses is not a help either.  Enter my SLR.  I have Canon SLR and a macro lens and macro flash that I had purchased a while back.  I have never really taken the time to set it up for easy capture of the small models that I print until now.

Here is the my setup:

Woeking Bits

• 3D Printed stand for the camera and macro lens
• The actual camera and macro lense
• Rotating platform for the object to be photographed
• Elevator to raise or lower the floor on which the subject will sit.
• Backdrop holding paper that could be white or black
• PC (or Mac in this case) running Canon's EOS Utility

  

  Close-up of the working bits

  

  EOS Utility Console

  

  Captured Image

The parts that I designed for the Micro Studio are a rough work in progress but they can be found here.  Rotating stage is based on a huge bearing that I had from another project.  It is really not needed for this one so I have one that can be printed but I have not tested it.  The concept is here though!

Leveling the Moai

One of the two complaints that I have stated in regards to the Moai concerns the leveling process.  Standing a big and heavy printer on its head does not sound like a good idea! I play with a couple of different vats and I have found that they are different enough to demand re leveling (unless you only print at 100um).  This would become a pain...beyond pain even!  As I worked with the printer, however, I was able to come to terms with a decent process.

The first part of the solution was this article being published on the Moai Wiki.  That led to a couple of refinements.

If you are starting fresh go ahead and turn the printer on its head.  Remove the four leveling bolts completely.  Print four of these knobs from Thingiverse.  Note that you need to do some test prints to ensure the knobs fit the bolts securely.  As in you should need to pound them on.  Once each bolt has a knob put the bolts back on the printer and do the leveling with the paper sheet and all.  Turn the printer back over!

The second part of the solution is to print the test file from this article (here is a direct link).  Measure each of the cylinders and record the measurements in your copy of this Google Sheet.  Each knurl of the knobs that you now have on your printer represents 1/8th of a turn.  With practice you can turn these knobs pretty precisely just by feel.  You can also do this through the opening where the vat sits and without removing a side panel from the printer!

As always, remember to take the build plate off the printer before removing the vat!

The final part of the solution is to come up with a way to roughly level things without turning the printer over.  Here is my technique.  Set the Z Reset Position to something like 985 or so.  Maybe even lower (which means the plate will be further from the PDMS).  Let it move into position.  Note whether or not the platform moved when the build plate settled.  What you are looking for is the first point at which you detect movement.  The Z Reset Position that I use is the one that is one lower than the first movement one.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  When the current version of firmware starts the Moai it does so with a raise of the build platform and then a tilting of the vat.  Why this order is inexplicable to me!  It will harm your PDMS and should be the other way around.  Lacking that you can protect your vat by starting a print and then turning the printer off after the initial tilt starts and gets PDMS separation.  When your turn your printer back on it will be gentle to the PDMS.